Now I know as a blog host, you’re supposed to post consistently to not lose traction. I’ve dropped the ball and there’s no excuse, but I’ll take this time to explain at least why I’ve been so shaky recently.

Not only have I been grinding out seminary work, but I’ve also battled mentally for the past few weeks about purpose, calling, worth and etc. Majority of these thoughts have been centered around this schooling. I’ve been hit with questions such as “who are you doing this for?”, “Is your sacrifice worth it or will you be disappointed?”, “Will you ever get to use any of this stuff for the betterment of other people?”. I’ve never been the type to do something selfishly, or to boost my pride or ego, but I always try to take into account if my actions negatively or positively impact other people. I said that to say that this last degree isn’t for me, but for people with questions and for the betterment of Christendom.

Well this Sunday on Mother’s Day during a service moment I went before my church with a word about “Pushing” and “Response”, something mothers find themselves doing throughout the birthing process. (I tried to stay in the mother’s theme). What God brought me to in the matter of a few minutes was Luke 1:39-42

“Now at this time Mary set out and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah,⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed isthe fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

Now of course I’m not a woman, and have no idea about the labor pains and the day to day of carrying a child, but what I do know is the activity behind assignments, processes, and what you may spiritually carry or birth. What encouraged me most about this passage of scripture is the response of John the Baptist as a baby inside his mother’s womb. He literally leaped when he heard Mary speak, as she was carrying Jesus.

When you are in the will or in the presence of God, things respond. There is an activity that surrounds the individual. There is a positive response in your favor from both you and others around you. But there is also a negative response from the enemy to try and get you off course or to stop your momentum. I was watching Captain America Civil War, and in this particular scene the hero known as The Vision dropped a bar in response to teams current crisis of signing the Sokovia Accords. He said

“Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict… breeds catastrophe.”

Now of course you can bypass the catastrophe part, but he is still correct. The scripture says to be STRONG in the Lord and in the power of his MIGHT. God’s presence invites challenges from the enemy to detour us and it can take multiple forms such as fear, doubt, anxiety just to name a few. We can either lay down and accept it, or get up and become confrontational. Respond knowing God has your back and you’re on the right path. We see more supernatural demonic activity during Jesus’s 3 year public ministry than we do anywhere else in the Bible. The enemy isn’t going to bother anybody who isn’t a threat, he bothers those that God is using presently or processing to use in the future.